


Blackmail

by schrijverr



Category: Peaky Blinders (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Italians, John Shelby Lives, Mentions of homophobia, Mentions of past prostitution, Period-Typical Homophobia, already did that so, mentioned - Freeform, season 4, yeet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-27
Updated: 2019-10-27
Packaged: 2021-01-04 13:34:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,079
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21198482
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/schrijverr/pseuds/schrijverr
Summary: The Italians have some blackmail on Tommy and he’s trying to not get his family to hate him and beat the Italians. It goes better than expected, family is family.Read with caution!





	Blackmail

**Author's Note:**

> You can also read this work on my tumblr, which is also @schrijverr  
Hope you pop in and say hi!

Tommy was pacing back and forth by the table while the rest of the family were just settling down. He even bit his nail, a nervous habit Polly hadn’t seen him do since he was a boy. When everyone was looking at him, waiting for him to start, he stopped and said: “We have a problem.”

That wasn’t really news, because there wouldn’t be a sudden family meeting right after Tommy had a visit from an Italian if there wasn’t, but the fact that Tommy seemed so out of it was very worrying. 

Tommy shook his head, like he wanted to shake something off, then he went on: “The Italians have a piece of information and they are going to tell you in the hope of throwing this family off balance and murdering us. They can’t make this public knowledge, because that would incriminate one of their own, but they’re hoping you are going to do it for them.”

The rest stared at him with a blank face. He really wasn’t making any sense, because he wasn’t telling him the information the Italians supposedly had and they didn’t. Polly took it upon herself to point that out, which caused Tommy to start pacing and biting again. 

She and Ada shared a look, whatever it was, it wasn’t good. Ada tried in a more comforting voice: “Tommy, just tell us and we can fix it. If it’s just a bit of information, it can’t harm us. We know what this business is about and what goes on. You just have to tell us.”

Tommy stopped and leaned on the table, then he pushed himself up and rubbed his face and sighed as he shrunk a bit in himself. He looked up and said: “It got nothing to do with the business.”

“Just fucking tell us, Tommy!” Arthur said loudly.

Tommy flinched before getting a hard look in his eye as he harshly said: “I don’t love women like I should, okay!”

It was completely silent for a whole second, the John loudly exclaimed: “What the fuck do you mean by that?”

Angrily (meaning defensive, Polly noted) Tommy replied: “What I mean is that I sucked Alfie's cock for a deal and I fucking enjoyed it!”

He was panting heavily now and all the fight drained out of him, he slid down onto the ground and leaned against the cupboard behind him. He tipped his head backwards and calmly said: “The Italians hope you throw me out and it becomes public knowledge, leaving you without the head of the family and with less authority, since you’re related to a fucking fag.”

“Did you do that before?” Ada asked in a small voice.

He gave her a confused look and said: “Did I do what?”

Ada blushed before saying: “Preform sexual favors for money and deals.”

Tommy looked away and said: “Like you don’t know the answer to that, eh.”

Ada frowned and said: “I don’t know the bloody answer, otherwise I wouldn’t have asked, would I.”

Tommys gaze snapped back and he gave his sister a calculating look, but he didn’t find a lie in her eyes, so he answered: “When dad had just left, before Polly came back to help. Arthur was growing so fast, he needed shoes, you needed clothes, we were hungry and we didn’t have a damned thing. It was easy money, after that I found that it can be useful, so I used an asset from time to time.”

He looked to the ground, he could feel his cheeks heating up. He crossed his hands over the back of his head and let his elbows rest on his knees. He was tired and scared and, most importantly, he had no control over the situation, something a Tommy didn’t like one bit. We’re they going to keep accept him, or only keep him until the Italian fiasco was over or, the most likely option, were they going to beat him up and throw his on street, then watch as an angry mop murdered him.

“Just get it over with.” Tommy broke the silence, he couldn’t take it any longer, “Just vote to kick me out and get it over with.”

The people sitting at the table awkwardly looked at each other. No one wanted to be the one to make the first move in this whole ordeal. It was really strange to see Tommy this open and vulnerable, it just didn’t feel right. 

When no one made a move Tommy looked up and raised one questioning eyebrow, in that annoying way only he could. He looked so scared, but in that moment he also had a hint of that arrogance that screamed ‘I already own the world, you just don’t know it yet, so I don’t give a fuck what you say about me’ and Ada couldn’t take it, he was still her big brother. She threw her hands up and said: “I’m not gonna fucking throw you out, Tommy.”

Her heart broke by how shocked and surprised he looked at that. She went on: “I didn’t question you back then, because you provided, so I didn’t care where the money came from. Back then you said we would one day never had to worry about where our money came from and you kept that promise. So for me you’re not going anywhere.”

Arthur nodded and said: “We're family, gonna show them Italians that we’re not that easy to get rid of.”

John whooped loudly at that and just like that the tension was over. Tommy allowed himself to smile, it wasn’t much of a smile, more a quirk of his lips, but it was there. Polly saw it and realized she’d seen that sight last before the war. So she silently decided to throw her Christianity out the door and fuck it, she was already going to hell, she rather get there with a smiling by her side Tommy than to meet him there while still on bad footing.

Later she did ask him how they could have gotten that information and a mortified Tommy told her that apparently Lucas cousin was a prostitute he had a run in with. She had given him a displeased look, but her spirit was lifted a bit with Tommys face as she told him that he had to tell his brothers, so they wouldn’t be thrown for a loop when it was brought up as blackmail by the Italians.

**Author's Note:**

> I live for Kudos and Comments so if you left any: Thank you very much! <3


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